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Chapter 40: 40—What’s Next Noah could feel his skull trying to rip itself apart. For a moment, still as death, he just stood there staring at Leeroy. Spectral voices stormed through his mind, feeding the fire, pleading with him to smash open the boy’s skull like an egg. "Fuck off," Noah managed to hiss after a long time. To both Leeroy and the voices. Anyone with half a brain would see the murder in his eyes and turn around. Fara turned stiff just watching him stare at Leeroy. All her friends shifted away, clarity burning the alcohol from their bodies. But Leeroy wasn’t fully bought into his rage. The two images of the Noah were clashing in his mind, making Noah’s glare just more infuriating. Leeroy had an impressive frame, just as tall as Noah, and even stronger looking. His dyed red hair always caught attention and amplified the severity of his face. Noah’s immediate reaction when Leeroy walked towards him was to throw a right hook. His arm tensed but never came up. His jaw tightened so hard he could draw blood. "Do you not understand English anymore?" Noah muttered through his clenched jaw. Leeroy smirked, dark eyes reading his face. "I heard you. Why so ’angry’?" He said, raising his fingers to make air quotes. He turned down to Fara with a predatory smile. "Is he always this insecure?" then his eyes flashed with recognition . "Ohhh you’re his sister. Relax, Noah, I’d treat your sister well." I’ve never seen someone so eager to die. Noah did his best to push down the tension in his body. Like Madeleine had said, it was one of the triggers for activation of his powers. But Leeroy was not making it easy. Just imagine phasing through your clothes. Just imagine... The thought of his clothes suddenly falling off his body helped Noah calm down. He raised his head and gave Leeroy an expressionless look. "I don’t have to waste time with you," He spat at the red-haired fool. "That’s unfortunate," Leeroy said, shrugging. "It feels like you knew I was going to ask you to play ones. Are you that scared of me?" Noah tapped Fara gently, turning without bothering to answer Leeroy. Letting his emotions overtake him here was a bad idea. Especially since Life drain could activate in the middle of the match. "I’ll just win," Noah said as he left. "Maybe when you’re a bit smarter we can play." Fara and the others hurried up, struggling to keep up with Noah’s brisk pace. He only slowed down to greet any teammates he passed on his way to the car. Once the door shut behind all of them, Fara turned to him. "Are you okay?" He kept his eyes ahead, focused on the dark skyline over the glittering city. He nodded and started the car without another word. Fara exchanged looks with Jasmine but they let it pass. The rest of the drive back home was quiet. They all tapped their phones, occasionally glancing at him. Meanwhile, Noah was just worried about the whispering voices in his head. His previous hunger was gone, but now his anger triggered a thirst for vengeance. His Wraith side was a bigger problem than he thought. Once he dropped off all of Fara’s friends, it was the two siblings alone on the way home. Fara put down her phone. "Okay, but seriously," Fara said, turning to him, "are you okay? That annoying guy got to you a little. You looked like you were going to murder him." Noah’s eye twitched. "Nope, all good. I... I don’t have the best history with that idiot. But we move on." Fara nodded. "That sucks. Both of you are on the basketball team, so you’ll have to work together." He’s not going to be on the team for long. If Noah’s plans went smoothly, Leeroy would end up in jail. After that... he wasn’t quite sure what would happen after that. The next step would be living a normal life and keeping his family safe. Because other than accidents and diseases, you also had to watch out for demons in this world. The drive to their house was spent in silence. Fara was laughing softly and texting her friends, while Noah scanned the area, making sure there weren’t any Phantasms near his house. He parked in the garage then he and Fara went to their rooms without a single word. Their parents were out on a date so the house was empty. Noah flopped onto his bed and sighed. "Wasn’t a bad day, I guess." Other than the girl he almost killed. It was his first time having sex with someone in this world so he really couldn’t have known that his powers would activate. He had no interest in dating Mikaela. They had a nice time, but he wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. He also couldn’t trust Mikaela. He was a demon, she was from a family of demon hunters. Something else came to mind as he was thinking about her: the ghost girl at the park. He had been avoiding the park for weeks because that was where he met his first Keeper. The girl in the forest that day was Madeleine. She had a wrapped spear on her back that time, but he recognized the golden eyes and silky black hair. I should go check on that ghost girl. He had been avoiding the park because of Madeleine, but now if he met her there he could just talk to her. And besides, most of the other Keepers should be on the mainland right now, looking for who killed Hadrian. Once his mind was made up, Noah waited for his parents to get back. They came into his room and made sure to have a very long and annoying talk about the party and responsibility. "We’re just saying we trust you, son," Cara concluded. "And we’re very proud of you," Paul made sure to add for the tenth time. "I was proud even before you made the basketball team." Noah raised an eyebrow. "But you’re prouder now?" Paul and Cara exchanged awkward glances then smiled shakily. Noah laughed and threw a pillow at them. "Go away. And make sure to give Fara this exact talk but even longer," Noah grumbled, lying back into the bed. Cara kissed his forehead and dropped his pillow, while Paul rubbed his shoulder. Once they were both gone, Noah opened his eyes. He quietly raised the window by his bed and eyed the drop down. He was going with his human body this time, just in case he met Madeleine. "That looks like it’s going to hurt."